Teachable Moments: Bettie Colon

Bettie Colon combines patience and kindness with following the rules. Photo by Bethany Green For the Times-Union

Patient, kind, organized, consistent.

Those are just a few of the words used by the faculty and staff at Beauclerc Elementary School to describe their candidate for 2012-2013 Teacher of the Year, Bettie Colon, who teaches emotionally disabled students.

“[Colon] is always there,” said Beauclerc’s Behavior Support Site Coach, Jill Pensabene. “Ask her to do something, she does it. She’s just great.”

Colon wanted to be a teacher since she was a child and used to play make-believe as the instructor of her pretend classroom. But her path to a real classroom was not direct.

Colon was in the military for over 20 years. It’s no doubt that even her experiences as a tactical telecommunication sergeant could not have prepared her for the trials she’s faced: Chairs being tossed across the room, books being thrown to the floor, assignments being torn up and thrown in the garbage, even incessant cursing.

The key, she found, is to look beyond the bad behavior and discover the roots of the issues.

“I had to learn to listen and actually hear them,” Colon said. “I act like nothing has happened and I tell everyone else to concentrate on the assignment. I don’t instantly try to fix the problems because a lot of the time they will fix them themselves.”

Colon has been teaching for eight years at Beauclerc Elementary as one of the behavioral support specialists, which requires certification and specialization in emotional disabilities.

She teaches students in grades third through fifth. Her abilities in the classroom are not limited to one subject, though: she covers reading, science, social studies, math and even art. Not one student is on the same academic level as another, and each child has a specific style and pace of learning.

Persistence and consistency are two of the most important qualities to have when it comes to good teaching methods for the special needs students, Colon said.

“I have to hear them and see them. A lot of the special needs children are overlooked,” she said. “But a lot of them are very bright; someone just has to pull it out of them. You can’t take ‘I don’t know’ for an answer. I don’t leave them alone. And eventually they open up.”

Though patience is a key character trait, sternness is not far behind. Enforcing the rules is not something she takes lightly.

Colon operates by a behavior management plan to keep her classroom in working order. This is a point-based system in which each student starts with 100 points at the beginning of the day. Points will be taken away from the students each time they do not follow a rule. The students receive a piece of candy at the end of the day if they still have 70 points. If the students have fewer than 70 points, they must bring a report home to their parents.

Colon said that the children have started keeping track of their points to make sure they get their reward. It’s easy to see the connection she forms with her classes.

“The children are attached and responsive. The rules don’t change and the kids know it,” Pensabene said. “[Colon] sets obtainable goals and the students improve.”

Some students have more intense behavioral problems than others, so Colon creates a behavior plan to fit the student’s specific problems and needs. Working it out with the student’s parents can also be beneficial.

It’s clear that Colon’s permanent set of rules have a positive effect on the students. They may start the day frustrated but, by the end, they are encouraged and motivated.

“A lot of times they think I’m the meanest teacher in the world and then before the day is over with they’re giving me hugs and telling me I’m the best thing that ever happened,” she said. “And it’s worth it.”

Teachable Moments, a project of the Jacksonville Public Education Fund, highlights the region’s most innovative and effective teachers. Stories that appear each Monday in the Times-Union’s Metro section are written by journalism students at the University of North Florida. For more information, visit Jacksonville.com/teachablemoments and www.jaxpef.org.